The Hostess of Fertility.
Mia still had a deep impression of Ron. The main reason was that he had come to the shop to spend money for several days in a row, and also because he had some connection with that girl, Ryuu.
No one could refuse a polite young man.
What was more, from another perspective, Ron—who had only recently joined the Hestia Familia—could, to some extent, be considered a junior adventurer.
Mia looked at the boy who had just finished a Dungeon expedition and had not even had time to take off the equipment on his body.
She casually asked: "Ron..."
"You finished your Dungeon exploration so early today?"
"Yes."
Recalling the course of today's exploration, Ron summarized it simply: "We ran into difficulties during the Dungeon exploration, so I'm planning to make some adjustments, to avoid encountering life-threatening danger in the upcoming Dungeon runs."
"A steady newcomer like you is really quite rare in Orario."
After getting his answer, Mia's eyes were filled with surprise. She placed in front of him the chilled orange soda water she had improved after listening to Ron's suggestions last night.
After closing last night, she had tried the taste herself.
Sure enough, after being chilled, it tasted far more refreshing. In contrast, freshly squeezed orange juice had a kind of sour, astringent taste when drunk.
"Give it a try."
She spoke in a bright, hearty tone: "This is the chilled soda water improved according to your advice. No charge—this one's on the house. And also, what would you like to eat for lunch?"
"Today I recommend the charcoal-grilled pork cutlet set meal. As an adventurer, your appetite definitely has to be big—how about adding a serving of braised noodles as well?"
"I'll go with Aunt Mia's recommendation."
If it had been back when he had just become an adventurer, Ron would have found the cost somewhat hard to bear. But now that his financial situation had improved, trying to eat a bit better also made Dungeon exploration feel more worthwhile.
After he paid the meal in advance,
while waiting for the back kitchen to finish cooking, Mia seemed to recall something and suddenly suggested, "If you feel like you've hit a bottleneck in Dungeon exploration…"
"You could try asking Ryuu."
When it came to other adventurer customers,
in Mia's impression, Ryuu always maintained a state of "keep strangers at a distance." Only when facing Ron did she show even a slight emotional fluctuation.
That was a good thing!
But when Mia recalled the conversation these two had during their first meeting, she could only say that young people really knew how to play.
"There's nothing like being that reckless—just meeting for the first time and already taking the initiative to ask for a date. If it were someone with a more fiery temper…"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
It felt like being tied to a pillar of shame and tortured!
Yet when he thought back to himself in his previous life—liking pretty girls due to surging hormones when he was young, but never mustering the courage to confess until graduation—
Then this kind of approach, Ron felt, was it not also a way of making up for the regrets of youth?
That was how it was when you had a thick skin. In any case, he did not feel that Mia's suggestion was inappropriate. On the contrary, he began to consider the feasibility of the idea.
'War God Takemikazuchi is very reliable.'
But he needed to work part-time at the Jagamarukun stall, so he might not necessarily have the time to help with Ron's own matters.
On the other hand, Ryuu—as a Lv.4 adventurer—would definitely have free time after the restaurant's busy period ended, and the key point was that the shop owner, Mia, tacitly allowed this kind of behavior.
Thinking of this, Ron nodded heavily and said seriously, "I'll ask Miss Ryuu."
"Make sure you seize the opportunity."
After hearing Mia's reminder that seemed somewhat unfocused, he looked toward a spot not far behind him. What came into view was the tall figure of the useless elf.
At the instant their gazes briefly met, Ron could even see it—on Ryuu's cool, clear face, her expression froze for a fleeting moment.
"Miss Ryuu."
"…"
The girl gave a light nod as a response.
Yet the vigilance contained in Ryuu's eyes did not fade. She truly did not know whether this guy would, in the next moment, say something embarrassing.
"I'm sorry."
"That incident the other day caused you trouble."
Starting with an apology, everything was in order.
Ron tried his best to make his smile appear gentle as he once again proposed, "Miss Ryuu, there's something presumptuous I'd like to ask—could you help me?"
"Not a date."
Ryuu refused decisively.
There was no room for negotiation on this matter. However, when she heard what Ron said next, the girl only felt a constant wave of heat rising to her cheeks.
"Were you an adventurer before, Miss Ryuu?"
Ron made a tentative request: "My recent Dungeon explorations seem to have hit a bottleneck. I was wondering whether you might have time to help train me, senior."
"…"
So it was just training?
Ryuu finally let out a complete sigh of relief. Facing Ron's sincere gaze, she ultimately could not bring herself to refuse again. Moreover, she herself trained in private as well.
Helping him train was also a matter of convenience.
The girl nodded lightly, her tone still cool and detached: "Tomorrow morning, come find me in the restaurant's back courtyard. But please be prepared to get injured."
"Thank you, Senior Ryuu!"
"…"
This guy was really skilled at getting familiar.
If it were another adventurer, Ryuu felt she would definitely find it annoying. But when facing Ron, she could not understand why she felt no sense of resistance.
Perhaps, at his core, Ron was also an excellent junior.
...
After settling the matter of lunch, due to the extermination mechanism, Dungeon exploration came to a temporary halt.
Ron did not stay idle either. He took all the gains from his solo Dungeon explorations over the past two days to the Adventurers Guild and exchanged them at the counter for Valis.
The total income came to a little over seventy thousand.
During that time, he briefly chatted with Eina—consulting information on monster distributions in deeper Floors, and sharing some lighthearted, everyday Dungeon exploration experiences.
As for the time spent waiting for Hestia to get off work, he became rarely free. Purely basic training no longer had any room for improvement, so Ron simply chose to relax his mind appropriately.
It was extremely calm.
Ron was well aware that all of this was merely a surface illusion. What was missing now was a stone—one that would completely shatter the seemingly calm lake before his eyes.
That stone, was the Soma Familia!
"Once this ability value update is finished, starting tomorrow, I can go look for Ryuu for special training. There's no reason that after being beaten up by a Lv.4 adventurer, I'd still trip over some measly Lv.2s, right?"
...
By the time evening arrived, at the entrance of the communal dormitory, watching Hestia return home with a heart full of excitement, Ron did not continue sitting there to wait. He proactively stood up to greet her.
The bright smile flowing across the girl's face even carried a hint of pride.
He really could not guess the exact reason. When Hestia came home, the ability values that had not been updated for two days could finally be released.
Ron was very much looking forward to the changes in the numbers.
"Lady Hestia."
"Ron, were you waiting for me here?" Seeing the young man's figure in front of the communal dormitory building made Hestia feel that all her efforts had been worthwhile.
She familiarly hooked her arm through Ron's.
Although in her heart she was already impatient, wanting to tell Ron this good news right away, her intuition still told her to wait until the weapon customization was finished—
And then tell him this surprise!
"Yes."
Ron replied frankly, then made a request to the girl before him: "Lady Hestia, could I trouble you to update my ability values tonight?"
"Don't say things like 'tonight,' okay."
"Right now!"
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